Jeremy Sentelle has big dreams. The Campbell High School senior wants to be a state wrestling champion, maybe wrestle in college. He wants to run a marathon, too.

Those goals don’t seem so crazy for the fit, energetic Sentelle, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs a lean 180 pounds. But they would have been nearly impossible two years ago when, at 5-foot-10, he weighed 230 pounds.

It took real effort to make that change, and not just in a gym. Sentelle, now 17, improved his diet, embraced exercise as fun and stopped caring about what other people thought of him.

Sentelle grew up in Texas playing ice hockey. When he was 12 he moved to Ewa Beach with his mother and stepfather — Jamie Sentelle and Rod Espi­noza — and lost his favorite outlet for exercise. Even though he discovered wrestling in the eighth grade, he gained weight, largely because he spent much of his time hanging out with friends and playing video games.

It didn’t help that he snacked as soon as he came home from school and ate right before he went to bed. And those meals didn’t include a lot of healthful foods. Like many kids, he hated fruits and vegetables.

Sentelle had more than enough reasons to change his life.

“When I was big, it was a very uncomfortable feeling,” he said. “I felt embarrassed of myself. I was too embarrassed to go out and too embarrassed to be with people. I wouldn’t go to the beach because at the beach you have your shirt off. I was like, no, I’ll stay away from that. I’ll stay home.”

Sentelle’s struggle with weight is common in today’s world. According to a 2013 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 28.3 percent of Hawaii youths ages 17 and under were overweight or obese, slightly under the national average of 30.3 percent. 

Sentelle’s epiphany came in his sophomore year when his wrestling coaches urged him to slim down. He struggled initially, but then a funny thing happened: He discovered that when he lost weight, he felt better.

He changed his diet, too, taking a liking to chicken breast and kale salad.

As the pounds melted away, Sentelle discovered something else: He loved to run.

“Running to me is just super fun,” he said. “If I was stressed out or I was bored, instead of eating some ice cream and watching a movie, I’d go run a little bit and listen to some music.”

Three times a week, Sentelle wakes up at 5 a.m. to go for a 2-mile run before school. And on the weekends he tackles 7-mile courses.

Inspired by his mother, a former marathoner and triathlete, Sentelle is excited at the prospect of running a marathon. He wants to enter next month’s Hono­lulu Marathon, which would be his first competitive running event, but might need to hold off because his coaches want him to compete in a wrestling tournament on Maui that same weekend.

Sentelle’s plans for the mat include dropping down to the 170-pound weight class and bringing another individual state title home to Campbell, which is consistently among the top teams in the state. As a sophomore he placed second at the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s junior varsity championships in the 189-pound weight class.

Although taking that first step toward a healthful lifestyle is hard — especially for a teenager — Sentelle urges others to find an activity they love to do, like he did with running.

And to be patient.

“When you’re heavy and you’re running and exercising, it sucks,” he said. “It’s so painful, it’s so hard. But once you start to get in shape, there’s so much more that you can do. You just feel great, you’re allowed to do everything — you don’t have a social barrier at all. It just opens up possibilities. It’s its own reward.”